ばたつく
解説 Definition
flailing は flail（手足などをばたつかせる、振り回す）の現在分詞・動名詞です。腕や脚、物が制御しにくい状態で激しく動く様子を表すときに使います。
Flailing is the present-participle or gerund form of flail and describes arms, legs, ropes, or similar things moving about violently and without effective control. In participial phrases, it can express the manner or accompanying action of a person’s movement.
覚え方のコツ Memory Tip
flailing は原形 flail に -ing を付けた現在分詞・動名詞で、語末が l なのでそのまま flailing となります。発音の中心は原形と同じ /fleɪl/ で、後ろに /ɪŋ/ が加わります。「arms flailing」「flailing in the water」のように、制御できず激しくばたつく場面で覚えましょう。
Start with the base verb flail, “to swing or move violently without control,” then add -ing: flail becomes flailing, with no doubled consonant or dropped letter. The pronunciation keeps /fleɪl/ and adds /ɪŋ/. Link it to visible, uncontrolled motion rather than an ordinary deliberate wave: imagine someone falling into water with arms flailing, or a loose rope flailing in strong wind. Common patterns include “with his arms flailing,” “go flailing,” and “flailing about.” The word suggests repeated, ineffective movement, often caused by panic, imbalance, or powerful external force.
例文
The child ran down the hill with his arms flailing.
その子は腕をばたつかせながら丘を駆け下りました。
She fell into the water, flailing for a moment before she found her balance.
彼女は水に落ち、体勢を立て直すまで少しの間ばたついていました。
The loose rope was flailing in the strong wind.
ほどけたロープが強風の中で激しく揺れていました。
flailing の類義語・関連語
flailing の語源・成り立ち Etymology
flailing は flail の -ing 形で、「ばたばた振り回して」の感覚です。flail は古英語系の語で、西ゲルマン語を経て後期ラテン語 flagellum「むち・脱穀具」と結びつき、打ち振る道具の像が核。だから手足を激しくばたつかせる意味になります。関連語は flail, flagellate。
Flailing is formed regularly from flail plus the participial suffix -ing. The verb flail originally referred to beating grain with a flail, a hinged threshing implement, and later developed the sense of swinging limbs or objects violently. English flail came through Old English from a West Germanic form ultimately connected with Late Latin flagellum, meaning a whip or threshing tool. The tool’s striking motion underlies the modern figurative sense.
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